Bainbridge Island Review

Bainbridge candidate announces bid for county assessor

April 4, 2014 · Updated 10:58 AM Comments

Garry Sobeck of Bainbridge Island has announced he is running for the post of Kitsap County assessor this year.

Sobeck kicked off his campaign on March 17. Sobeck retired in 2012 as division chief in the San Diego County Assessor’s Office, and returned to his childhood home in Puget Sound with his wife and daughter.

“I see an opportunity to continue in public service and to serve my community,” Sobeck said. “I have unique experience in a large county assessor’s office, performing property assessments, supervising other appraisers, defending assessment appeals, managing the appeals team, and during the last four years, managing the entire tax roll closing process.”

“I have spent many years on statewide committees to ensure statewide valuation uniformity of special and unique type properties,” he added.

Sobeck was born in Seattle, and raised in Lakewood before relocating to San Diego, where he worked in the county assessor’s office for the last 15 years.

Sobeck began as an appraiser and worked his way up to division chief. Sobeck was elected as a pension trustee, and for three terms managed $9.3 billion in retirement assets on behalf of public employees of the county. In addition, he was pension board chairman from 2007 through 2009. Sobeck was also former president of the San Diego County Society of Certified Appraisers.

“I believe the assessor must treat all taxpayers fairly, and oversee an equitable appeals process,” he said.

After returning to Puget Sound, Sobeck has been active in the Rotary, and other nonprofit organizations in Kitsap County.

Sobeck has already received the endorsement of former Washington state Sen. Phil Rockefeller.